The present invention relates to a tool for installing walling materials, for example dry wall. The inventive tool permits the installer to easily position and evaluate the placement of large, flat walling materials with respect to a stud wall or other underlying wall structure without the need to permanently secure the material to the underlying wall.
Efficiently installing walling materials such as dry wall, wood paneling (hereafter, collectively xe2x80x9cdrywallxe2x80x9d) is critical to virtually every commercial and residential construction project. Yet, installers typically encounter a variety of difficulties due to the nature of drywall. Drywall is very heavy, and its large flat dimensions make it difficult to transport and handle. Drywall is also relatively fragile and has been known to crack, warp or splinter when dropped or mishandled.
Often it is desirable to position a dry wall section in a temporary manner so that the installer can step away from the dry wall section and evaluate whether placement is proper, or perhaps should be adjusted. If an adjustment is warranted, the temporary position of the drywall desirably could be altered without the need to xe2x80x9cuninstallxe2x80x9d the section. At present, however, there is no simple, safe and effective method by which an installer, particularly an installer working alone, can position a drywall section on a stud wall or other underlying wall (hereafter, xe2x80x9cunderlying wallxe2x80x9d) without permanently fixing the drywall section in place with nails, screws, adhesives or other means. Use of these means is less than efficient in that they render subsequent repositioning more difficult and cause delays in the construction project. Of course two (or more) installers may work together with one installer positioning the drywall while the other evaluates placement. Obviously this technique is more labor intensive and as a result more costly.
Another difficulty encountered by workers installing drywall sections is in vertically lifting drywall sections already positioned against an underlying wall. Typically this problem occurs when a drywall section must be lifted a short distance from the floor, but where gripping access to the sides of the section is impossible or difficult, for instance because of adjoining drywall sections already in place, the existence of other walls or fixtures, or other physical blockages. It is also very difficult to grip the face of the drywall section.
The inventive tool is used for positioning and installing paneling sections, for instance drywall, wood paneling, composite paneling, and other generally flat materials, on underlying walls. (This application will refer to these materials collectively as xe2x80x9cdrywallxe2x80x9d.) It solves the problems described above, and includes a number of additional features designed to assists workers in safely and efficiently installing drywall.
The tool is first affixed to the underlying wall by screws, nails, or other securing means. One or more tools may be used by the drywall installer depending upon the size of the drywall section to be positioned.
The tool includes several handling and holding surfaces. As described in detail below, these surfaces serve as side and bottom walls which, along with the surface of the underlying wall, form a gap into which the drywall is to be placed. The bottom of this gap is angled such that when drywall is placed in the gap it is forced, by action of its own weight, tightly against the underlying wall. An upper portion of the tool is also designed with an angled surface such that drywall may be guided into the gap with a minimum of difficulty.
In applications where drywall sections have already been permanently affixed to an underlying wall and the installer seeks to position additional sections, the tool may be positioned such that the angled gap bottom guides the additional section into place but does not serve to support the additional section. Here, the previously installed section will act as a support.
The invention also permits the efficient vertical lifting of drywall sections. The pointed tip of the tool is positioned below the drywall section to be lifted. Angled sections of the tool form a pivot point or fulcrum such that downward pressure on the portion of the tool remote from the drywall, for instance pressure from the hand or foot of the installer, causes the pointed tip portion, and the drywall section above it, to be raised.